Abstract

Reading a symposium is like enjoying a banquet via radio. Participation would be so much more satisfying! But the printed word in this book conveys a very good idea of the substance, if not of the savor, of the intellectual pièce de résistance. The Savor is, of course, the inspiration of personal contacts with not only the principal speakers but with the moderators, the organizers and the audience. The Substance is presented, as a tribute to the life and work (up to his 70th birthday, so far) of Dr. Selman A. Waksman, founder of the Institute of Microbiology at Rutgers, in the form of 7 lectures: 1. Microbial Biochemistry and Its Development, J. H. Quastel; 2. Antibiotics—A New Field for Microbiological Research and Perspectives for the Future, H. Boyd Woodruff; 3. Episodes in Immunochemistry, Michael Heidelberger; 4. Bacterial Classification—Problems and Developments, S. T. Cowan; 5. Some Contributions of Genetics to Microbiology, Vernon Bryson; 6. Aspects of Russian Microbiology, George K. Skriabin; 7. Microbiology—Yesterday and Today, Selman A. Waksman.